The Tigers were in the game for the majority of the fixture with the Wolves registering three late tries to inflate a previously competitive scoreline.
Castleford head coach Craig Lingard was disappointed with the result but hailed his side’s efforts: “I thought there was a lot of effort, I thought they dug deep and worked hard for each other.
“There was a big attitude improvement in the defensive element and I don’t think it was a 28-6 scoreline to be fair.
“I’m a bit disappointed the score went out as it did, there was a lot of effort. We had a couple of occasions where we switched off and they were clinical.”
The Tigers conceded an early try in the second-half as Warrington piled on the pressure and that disappointed the Castleford boss.
“The initial first contact at the start of the second-half from which they got a lot of quick rucks killed us. We had to commit two and three men to the tackle and they rolled us.
“It’s difficult to get back and then you are driving the ball out from your own line. I thought we came back and dug deep. There were certainly positive signs for us there.”
Lingard also hailed debutant Jenson Windley who impressed, whilst Luke Hooley also enjoyed a first time centre position.
“Jenson was really good, for an 18-year-old to step up like that was impressive. He didn’t look out of place, really positive. I think he’s got a decent career ahead of him.
“He has progressed through the academy and trained with the first-team in that environment. The positives we’ve got now until the end of the season, we can start looking at people like Jenson.
“As a halfback, you can maybe overcomplicate things. His strength is his carrying and the message to him was to use his strengths and I think he did that.
“I thought Luke did really well in that unfamiliar centre role. He was up against an international opponent in Toby King.
“Defensively he said he was a bit grabby and needed to be a little bit better, but he did well.
Lingard, however, did draw attention to the long stoppage as video referee Liam Rush decided to overturn Tom Grant’s decision of a no try for Cai Taylor-Wray’s first-half effort.
“If you’re stopping a game for five minutes to decide whether it’s a try or not a try, you’re looking for potentially something that isn’t there.
“If you are giving it a try or a no try and you are looking for five minutes, you have to go with the referee’s decision. It takes all the momentum out of the game.
“The players were stood around, we were getting restless. Things like that for the video referee have to be quicker.”
Despite the Tigers benefitting from a video referee check on Liam Watts, which saw Luke Yates given a yellow card for a high tackle, Lingard isn’t a fan of the playacting creeping into rugby league.
“I’m a big believer that if the referee doesn’t see something then crack on. If a player goes down then take them off, I’m not a fan of it even though we benefitted today.”
On the overall refereeing performance, which saw a number of controversial decisions given, Lingard said: “My mother always said that if you can’t say anything nice then you don’t say anything at all.”
So what positives can Lingard take out of the game?
“Jenseon and Luke and attitude wise we were better this week. There has been a bit of frustration in the camp that our performances haven’t been what they want them to be.
“Our expectations have gone up a little bit from where we were at the start of the season.
“We have dropped below some of the standards internally and there has been frustration there. Positives around the work rate effort, defensively we were better in contact areas too.”
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